The Desteny of the Spiral
by trekker2000
Summary: I am just going with this as long as I go, so there is not much to say. This is basically just a story of the game with a larger destiny at the end, so not much different from basic gameplay.
1. Professors Letter

A long, long time ago, there was a planet that existed only to those very few.

It was a world of diversity, full of wonders and magic.

There were many different provinces, with a different spirit found in each. Outside of Wizard City, where all wizards eventually went to live and school, there were deserts, volcanoes, and all different types of society.

One day, the world began to crumble. Malistare committed treachery, and the School House for death Fell to the downside. The Grandfather Tree's fought to hold on as everything began to crumble. The provinces broke and fell apart. It was all the Grandfather tree could do to hold Wizard City together.

The planet was shattered into billions of pieces, but the gravity well of the planet held the pieces of the planet fairly close together. The Spiral was created.

Every year, another piece of the planet is discovered, and threats there are unleashed. Young wizards still train at the School of Ravenwood, assembling an army. The forces are sent over across the worlds of the Spiral to fend off threats and protect the people that lived in the Province when the world split up.

These forces are just children, who find magic in different aspects. The wizards can summon creatures and forces of nature by use of spells. There are different "Natures" of spells, or schools. The school can lead over different things, such as Life, Death, Myth, Storm, Fire and Ice, or you can seek Balance in all things.

There is an eldest prophecy, that speaks of one of each. A child born of pure blood that will master each school, who will defeat the evil and make the Spiral whole again. They will have the purest magic, and must band together.

Such children mustn't exist. That must be the however truth, all wizards know that.

However, this very moment, there are seven children turning ten today. They are getting ready to go to Ravenwood School of Magic.

Come on now, young wizard. This is part of your history, so learn it well.

Sincerely,

Headmaster Merle Ambrose


	2. Wizard City: Chapter 1

** Morgan Ghostsong sighed ruefully as she tied the rope that held her robe secure tight, and slung her coin bag on the rope, more as an afterthought than anything else. The bag was "Magic", go figure. Bigger on the inside. Morgan thought as she set the pointed hat on her head. She shook a lock of long, dark black hair out of her eyes.**

** "I don't want to go, Mom." Morgan whined as her pushed the door to their small cottage open. **

** "You turn ten today, Morg. You know the rules." Her mother chided. **

** "Would you really get into that much trouble if you just let me run away?" Morgan asked, not appreciating that her Mother could get banished, if not killed.**

** "Yeah, I would. I'd been banished to another part of the Spiral. I would have to work very hard there, and would never see you or daddy again."**

** "Yeah, I know. I always knew. I just thought that maybe…" Morgan started.**

** "I'm not risking everything for you, Morg. Nobody could love anybody that much." Mother responded.**

** Morgan hung her head, and fought back tears. ****_Yeah, you could love ME like that. I'm your child. You already never see Father, now you'll never see me too. _****Morgan felt a gaping whole in her stomach open up again at the thought. **

**_Never talk about Father. He left for Moo Shou and is never coming back._**** Morgan reminded herself.**

** Although wizards were fighting evil all over, and most children had at least one parent absent a lot, no one was quite so left behind as Morgan.**

**Morgan glared at the big almost-castle that the headmaster resided in as Mother left Morgan standing, just outside the mouth of the tunnel.**

**_You'll be leaving the shopping district behind for a little while, I'm afraid. _****The registrar had reminded Morgan. Now, she was to report to the tower next to Headmaster Ambrose's tower for her wand, books, quills, ink, and everything else she would need to complete her studies and become another pawn to be controlled. **

** There were several other children also milling around in the common area that were about Morgan's age, and they were all heading in a single direction. Not making a disturbance to get in trouble on her first day, Morgan moved in the line. The small progression passed the Headmasters house, and turned slightly. **

** Children in front of Morgan began to disappear into a small looking room in the side of the tower, the heavy wooden door was being held open by a very small and pretty fairy. **

** No one smiled or thanked the fairy as they shoved their way into the room, all except for Morgan. Thanking things that were kind to her was simply in her nature. **

** All the teachers were smiling in a circle, except for Cyrus Drake, the mean old myth teacher. Instead of a Death teacher, there was a student in black drapery robes and a staff. **

**_I can't be put in Death. _****Morgan thought, biting her lower lip. **

** The room was filled with books, and in the center there was a live mural of the spiral, the colored gasses adding beauty, and the small worlds of the Spiral modeled in floating bubbles. **

** The Headmaster's owl, Gamma, was perched off to the side, and all students and teachers were facing him. He had a piece of parchment clutched in one of his claws, and he was began reading names off as the door closed. **

**"First of all, the students that will be put in the school of Life." Gamma started, then began listing off names. Four were called, and the peeled away to go stand next to the Life teacher, Moolinda Wou. **

** Storm, Myth, Balance and Ice students peeled off next, and Morgan held her breath as students for the School of Death were called off. **

**_I have to be in fire! I have to be! _****Morgan thought, panic gripping her as the end drew closer. All she new about the School of Death was that it was the professor that had headed that school that caused the Planet to break up and create the Spiral. And that was no good. **

** "And lastly, Morgan Ghostsong" Gamma announced.**

** Everything seemed to become unfocused at that point. Morgan numbly walked to the only person left in the room, a death student by the name of Malorn Ashthorn. **

** He wore a joker's hat and carried a staff with a red jewel. **

** Malorn began to walk to the tunnel of Ravenwood, where the schools, their towers, their trees, the great tree, and the dorm rooms were located.**

** They passed a dog in a nice suit, the Schools of Storm, Ice, and Fire, and came to a large gap the separated the schools of Fire and Myth. **

** "This is where the School of Death used to be." Melorn. "Since the school fell through the gap with the Professor Dwargyn inside, I've been teaching the classes." **

** One new student with the same robs on as Morgan raised her hand. **

** "What?" Merlorn grumbled.**

** "Where did the school go?" The student asked. It was a normal looking little girl, with hair so blonde it was white. She clutched her wand in her hand with such a force her knuckles turned white. She was tiny, at least two head shorter than Morgan, who was already short for her age at 3'10''. **

** "No one can find it." Malorn replied, then turned back to the group as a whole. A whole of ten. Way more than the School of Life, who had only gotten four new students. **

** "Every few months here, you'll get a new spell. For awhile, I'll give you your spells, but if you last long enough to fight in worlds further off, you'll have to earn your spell. **

** "Your wand automatically gives you a spell, and harnesses your power to summon things more easily. You can't go anywhere without your wand, even the commons or your dorm. Your wand spell is simply harnessed energy of your school that can cause different amounts of damage on an enemy, depending on how many months you've been here. **

** "Since this is your first month, you get your first month spell."**

** Melorn got a large stack of cards bound by a clasp out of his coin bag, which he told them would also function as a backpack.**

** He undid the clasp on his deck, and pulled the card off the top. He held it up for everyone to see. **

** "Dark Sprite." He named the card. "I'll show you how to summon her first."**

** "First you take the card, but the picture should be facing you." He demonstrated for everyone. "I recommend you take the card by the very bottom between your thumb and forefinger." He modeled this too. **

** "Once you have the image of the creature depicted on this card clearly in your brain, you move as if you are going to snap your fingers. When you do so, the card should flutter to the center of the dueling arena or to the space between you and some other enemy. Let it." Melorn cast the card out and it landed perfectly in between the assembled students and himself.**

** "Now, you want to trace the symbol of death into the air quickly, this is the power that will actually draw the creature to you and bind it, so it will only attack your enemies." Melorn waved his staff, and a black symbol appeared in the air in front of him. The symbol was a spiraling circle that came down to make a half-square but didn't reconnect, instead ended in a squiggly line.**

** It seemed ridiculously complex and rather impossible. **

** These feelings must have shown on her face and the faces of many of her other comrades because Melorn shook his head.**

** "You're Wizards of Death because it's in your nature. This symbol is in your blood. You were chosen for this school because it's the only symbol you can do until you get better at it. Just wave your wands in a circle, but don't connect it. Just before you connect to make a full circle, come down to make a half square." Melorn showed again how to make the symbol. "Try it." **

** All ten Wizards of Death waved their wants in a fashion that copied their new teacher, Melorn. **

** Morgan was the first who got her symbol to gently fade away instead of violently crumble to pieces. **

** "Good!" Melorn called. "When your symbol fades gently, just like Morgan's did, that is when the creature can be summoned and bound to you. When the symbol crumbles suddenly, that's called a Fizzle. It means you won't be able to summon the creature, and this can happen for any number of reasons. First of all, the creature might just not want to be bound, so the spell will Fizzle, or the wand has some kind of break or crack, and sometimes magic just wont form. It happens to wizards who have been here for 95 months, but rarely. The longer you stay here, the less frequent your Fizzles will become." **

** "Now that we have seen what a successful spell looks like, I'll summon a Dark Sprite. You need to do the Symbol of Death right after the card lands its mark." **

** Melorn pulled a second card from the top of his deck, and let go of the next Dark Sprite card. It flew to the same place as the card before it, and Melorn quickly spun the Symbol of Death. **

** all thing that could have been Human except for it's wings and pointy ears appeared, and giggled. She wore dark red boots and a matching dress that went what would be 11 inches on a Human. The color was so dark red, it was almost violet. **

** The Dark Sprite giggled gently and, seeing no monster or dueling ring, flew into the air. She didn't get far before she vanished. **

** "Creatures act like that when they are summoned. They will attack a monster or aid in a dueling match, but they are very intelligent creatures, and can identify when these circumstances are present." Melorn reassured the very few scared Wizards of Death. **

** "I'll give you your cards tomorrow, when we get back from a field trip. I'll take you to Triton Avenue to show you how the Dark Sprite works in action. Tonight, all I want you to do is practice the Symbol of Death until you can get the Mark stable." **

**A/N Sorry this took a long time, in this chapter what I covered was not spoken of or addressed to my knowledge in the game. I know it was not Malistaire who broke the world into the spiral, it was something like the Ice gaints or something, but I wanted the story to be made where there were still some people that remembered the way the world was BEFORE it was broken up and I wanted Malisteres idea to be "if the world was broken up, it would be harder to reach some places and stop me." Or something like that. I might have mentioned it before but each chapter will be a longer time coming out because I really need to work on the Behind the battles, exploring, and the emotional parts of the story. **

**This is told from a Death students point of view, but the other schools will be integrated some how, I am not 100% sure how yet. I know this chapter seemed unfinshed, but I let my Betas read it and the four of them agreed I was running on, and that leaving off here would allow me to pick up more easily because I was having trouble before.**

**I needed a substitute for the levels, so I turned the levels into months.\**

**I Enjoy your feed back on any story, and this one is no exception. **


	3. Wizard City: Chapter 2

** Morgan trudged to her room, which was empty except for two beds, two dressers, a desk, and another person.**

** "Um, Hi." Morgan announced her presence as least-awkwardly as she could. It was sill pretty awkward. **

** "Hi. You must be 'Morgan Ghostsong'. I'm Suri Lifedreamer." The girl said. Suri was really tall, her auburn hair hung to just above her elbows, and her bright green eyes looked sweet, yet deceiving. **

** "Yeah, I'm that person. It's nice to meet you. We have roommates?" Morgan got right to her point. **

** "Yeah, of course we do. This is school, not the shopping or housing districts." Suri snipped. **

** "How did I get paired with a Wizard of Life?" Morgan groaned, flopping on her bed. **

** "Opposites attract, or so they say. Myth have to share with Storm, Fire with Ice, and Balance with whoever else, usually Balance." Suri replied.**

** "I'm so glad. Some Balance will probably be rooming with Death, there were ten of us and only four of you." Morgan mocked. **

** "Yeah, that just makes Wizards of Life special." Suri replied, holding her head high. "And Wizards of Death common place."**

** "I am anything but common place." Morgan retorted, but a before unseen clock started to ding. It was 10:00. "What is that?" **

** "What does it look like, stupid, it's a clock."**

** "That's not what I meant."**

** "We go with our Schools to different classes, idiot. It should be on the second page of your Spellbook." Suri snapped as she slammed the door to their room shut behind her.**

** Morgan took her Spellbook out of her Pack and turned to the second page. The first page had a bunch of lines and questions that identified the book as hers. The second page had a list of classes, times, and places listed. History of the Schools of Magic was next to the 10:05 time, and the meeting place was in front of the tree Bartelby.**

** Morgan pushed the door open, not bothering to close it behind her as she bolted down the steps, tripping on the last flight and making it to the Spiral sigil with all of the Symbols of the Schools of Magic only a minute late. **

** Melorn was starting to talk to the class and stopped short. **

** "Why are you late?" He inquired. **

** "I am the third to the top room, and the other two are empty, and there are a lot of stairs in the tower." Morgan responded, more than slightly breathless. **

** "Don't be late next time." Melorn ended the scolding as soon as it had started and resumed talking to the class. "As I was saying, you will be taking this class until you have been here 12 months, at which time you will be stationed in a second world of the Spiral, known as Krocotopia, or the World of Balance. **

** "While the Wizards of Myth are doing riding, we will be taught my Cyrus Drake, the Professor of Myth. Now you are representing the Wizards of Death right now, so behave yourselves." Melorn instructed, then led the way to the Schoolhouse of Myth.**

** Inside the Schoolhouse, a stern looking man in yellow robes with a bald head stood at the front of the room, and stood silently while the new Wizards of Death filed into the seats.**

** "I am Professor Cyrus Drake, the Head Wizard of Myth. There are blank parchment notebooks on each desk. Open them up to the first page and answer the questions there." The Professor instructed. There was a sudden rustle as students around the room began doing their task. **

** The notebook was yellow and royal blue, the colors of Myth, and the Symbol of Myth, a large pyramid with an eye inside, was at the center of the cover. **

** Morgan opened to the front cover and answered the questions that were asked of her. When she was finished, she flipped through the notebook, and saw every page was structured in some way. **

** The professor called attention to the front when everyone's quills had been set aside. **

** "Open to the next page. There are also textbooks on your table. Fill the page out with answers from the text book." Drake ordered. **

** Morgan cracked the textbook open, and began to read. A few questions jumped out at her right away. **

** The Schools Gemstone was PERIDOT. Wizards of Myth are better known as CONJURORS, or Wizards that CREATE with THE POWER OF THE MIND. Conjurors find their power in CALLING A CREATURE BY IT'S TRUE NAME. The power of Myth lies in between FIRE and ICE, because that were the SHADOWS LAY and Myths are SHADOWY THOUGHTS OF THE MIND. **

** The rest of the questions asked about the creatures Wizards of Myth could summon, what their Symbol stood for and why they had it, and stuff like that. The questions were easy, but there were a lot of them. Morgan was only one third of the way finished when Melorn walked through the door and announced it was time to go to next class. **

** "I want you to finish this page, and do the paragraph response on the next page tonight. He textbooks are yours. I would recommend writing your name, school, and bedchamber underneath the last user of the textbook, or you could be stuck in a bad situation." **

** All the students wrote the suggested information and stuffed the textbook and their notebook in their pack and stood gruffly. Morgan thought about all the names that had been above hers. **

** Thoughts of long-dead people filled her head until they were standing in the sunlight of the commons. **

** There were tens of animals, tied up by ropes that had been hammered into the ground. A boy that could be no older than 14 was grinning, he had tall brown boots on, a filthy robe that was once emerald green but was now just barely green, and a stained green cowl. There were seven stacks of parchment notebooks at his feet, ten in each stack. There were also tattered and worn textbooks in a similar series of stacks. **

** "I'm Jack Fireblade. I was a Wizard of Fire, but I was severely injured in battle in Moo Shou." Jack pulled his cowl back to reveal a scarred face. Most of his scalp only had small sprigs of hair, the rest was an irritated red. What looked like claw marks went from where the tip of his ear would have been and ended roughly the middle of hi chin. The marks looked to once have been deep, but now they were just scabbed over. More than half his ear was missing, the eye that had been raked over was gone, his nose was pushed over to the opposite side of his face and somewhat flat, and half his mouth was fused shut. **

** Jack pulled his cowl back up. **

** "You can't see it, but the left side of my body is all scabbed over as well." **

** You could tell something was up with the rest of the boys body because he was standing severely crooked, and favored his left leg.**

** "My shoulder is also messed up pretty bad, and my leg is permanently twisted out of joint. **

** "The field medics in Moo Shou wouldn't be able to save my life, so I was brought back here. I don't know what hit me, but I was fighting and then suddenly I was awoken my searing pain in Moo Shou. I was only half awake when they brought me here and fixed me, but Merle Ambrose decided I shouldn't go back to battle.**

** "I needed a job, I needed to live. I became a Stableboy because the animals don't judge my face or how I walk. They only judge me by how I care for them, and they are sweet to me in my return." Jack explained. A few of Morgan's fellow students looked sick to her stomach, but Morgan was fine with it. **

** In the Shopping District, a lot of injured solders worked and shopped, she even worked with two of them. **

** "The Stable Master said I was well enough now to teach children, as long as I kept my face cowled. **

** "I want to start by giving out your notebooks. The front page is self explanatory, so you can do that as soon as you want, and the same with filling your name in the front of the textbook.**

** "Your homework is to fill out the Warm-blooded section of your notebook by next week using the textbooks." **

** "What will we be doing if we won't be filling in out books in class?" One boy asked. **

** "Well, this is called riding class, so we ride. Throughout your service in the Spiral, there will be a lot of traveling, and a loyal companion is always a must-have. In this class, we find your true companion and teach you how to train and forge a bond with it."**

** There were murmurs of excitement and fear. **

** "The animal chooses its master. Who want to meet their new best friend first?" Jack asked. No one stood out but Morgan. **

** "What is your name?" Jack asked.**

** "Morgan Ghostsong." Morgan replied.**

** "Morgan, good. So step up here" Jack pointed to a spot on the ground and Morgan stood there. Right away a few creatures started calling out, but one called the loudest. **

** That creature was a large gray Warg, a kind of Wolf. It had sharp teeth, large claws, a pointed nose, a crazy mane of black hair, and a long tail of black hair. **

** The nine other Wizards of Death backed up at the sight of the large beast, he was certainly the fiercest looking. **

** As if instinct took over, Morgan stepped forward slowly, and all the other beast stopped their calling. She extended a hand just enough to where her elbow was slightly bent, and fell to one knee before the Warg. **

** The other students started laughing, but something told Morgan this was the right way to convince a Warg you were its friend, not it's enemy. **

** The Warg sniffed Morgan somewhat violently, then licked her face. Then, the creature placed its muzzle in her hand. Morgan raised her head and looked at it straight in the eye. Soul gazing. After a minute the Warg closed its eyes, putting its trust in Morgan. She grinned and stood suddenly, scaring the beasts away, all but one.**

** "Name it." Jack insisted, grinning like a kid who had just received the best present ever. **

** Grayfang was the first name that popped into Morgan's head, but that was too obvious. Noble was a stupid name, and Morgan was pretty sure Braveheart was the name of a Care Bare. Ghostsong was her name, and it wouldn't do for her pet. This creature was the only one here, it was a Ghost, perhaps a Memory… **

** "Lostsoul." Morgan named it. Everyone in the class broke into hysterics again, but the creature began to growl at them. It turned it's big and soulful green eyes on her as if to say 'You named me well.'**

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter was boring, it might be boring as I introduce all kinds of stuff. I made the wizards actually have to go to school instead of go around killing stuff, and I wanted a way to introduce the mounts more than just "i bought him" like in the game.**


	4. Wizard City: Chapter 3

** Morgan patted Lostsoul's neck gently as she dismounted from the Warg. She kissed him gently on the tip of his nose before turning and walking with the rest of the class into the Arena. **

** There were several books open, and wizards of all ages crowded around the different books.**

** "Those are the registration books." Diego the Duelmaster, the teacher for Dueling, told the small class. **

** For this class, Wizards of Death and Fire were combined, there were ten new Wizards in each class. And Diego liked larger classes. **

** "That book the Practice Dueling book." Diego told the students, pointing to the first book. "There, you wont loose or gain any points or tickets. That the Ranked Dueling, where you compete and the winner gets a differing amount of points or tickets, depending on how long the person and opponent have been with magic." **

** "That is the Tournament Dueling book." The Horse Teacher pointed to the third book. "When you have been with magic for at least ten months, you may enroll in a Tournament. In these competitions, you must beat out a certain number of players to win. There are many prizes, among you may win different wands, cloaks, hats, boots, athames, amulets, rings, and card decks, depending on which place you took. Standard prizes include coins, tickets, and points."**

** "The last book is simply a leader board book, where you can see who the most frequent winners of Practice and Ranked Dueling, the Tournaments that are offering the best prizes, the winners of any one Tournament, the count of the people who win Tournaments, and the amount of players each School is getting throughout the Tournaments." **

** Morgan filled the blanks in her notebook. **

** "Reputation Points are points you gain if you win or loose if you loose. There are different Titles you can earn by reaching a certain number of Reputation points. The gain or loss of points is calculated by your current number of points, your and your opponents time with magic, and your current rank.**

** "You can use Tickets to by any number of things. They are gained in the same way that Reputation Points are. You can buy clothing, jewelry, athames, or you can trade them in for Reputation Points, however the price for Points is extremely high, 200 for a single point simply because you did not truly earn them. You can still gain tickets if you loose. **

**"You can enter by simply walking up to one of the books, and tapping your want on the book. It will choose a suitable team, and when your teammates and opponents are ready, you will be transported to a Dueling Ring in one of our Arenas. **

** "We have many Arenas, we have one styled for each of the known worlds of the Spiral. As you may know, each known world of the Spiral has what is known as a Chief School, or a School of Magic that most, if not all, of its occupants can readily use. Arenas are similar. For example, Krocotopia's Chief School is Balance, so if you end up dueling in the Krocotopia Arena, all Wizards of Balance will get the small advantage of an added 20% to all spells, and it works the same for all schools. Some schools do not have an arena, so they were paired with another world randomly. **

** "Dueling does no real harm to any of the participants. They have a Virtual Health Bar, which is displayed openly for all of the participants and spectators to frequently see. The more months you spend with Magic, the larger your Virtual Health Bar Count will be. **

** "We have a pair of Seasoned Tournament Veterans that were willing to demonstrate a One Versus One battle. They are waiting down the stairs, in the Wizard City Arena, or the Neutral Arena, where all schools receive the 20% Spell Bonus. Follow me." **

** Diego walked forward and pulled the rope-off flag down, then proceeded to walk down the steps. Students followed close behind, and spread out among the seats.**

** Morgan wanted to see all the action, Dueling had fascinated her since she was a child, but she had only seen one. That was the Tournament her Father had been in before he left for Moo Shou, and never came back. Usually, the only children allowed to watch the matches where the children of the contestants. Now, she could watch any duel, and in ten months, be able to participate.**

** Diego had been correct, there was what Earth Spots Fans would call a Jumbotron that kept track of the contestant, their school, their Virtual Health Bar, age, and months since starting to learn magic. **

** The first one, Nolan Stormgate, was Storm, was 13 years old, having turned ten 40 months ago. Just a boy.**

** The second was Fred Rubymask, was Fire, was 17, already 95 months since his tenth birthday. Two years older than a man grown.**

** It was widely know that Storm was the most powerful school, but they were also the school that was designated to have less Health than other schools. Morgan had betted that Nolan would win, than thinking back to it, Nolan didn't even have all of his spells yet. Fred would win. **

** More than half the pages in the notebook were full with tournament viewing sheets, and Morgan figured if by the end of this year she had to have all of them filled out, she had better start now. Two other Fire students had the same thought process, and four other Death Wizards as well. **

** Nolan kept using Fire Shields and Storm Blades instead of attack, which seemed a foolish thing to do. **

** Fred, however, was attacking relentlessly. He used Helephant more than a few times, and Meteor Strike less, but still frequently. He used Genie once, and left Nolan with 50 health. In the next couple of rounds, Nolan would loose. **

** While Fred was rebuilding his energy stores to get ready to summon his next beast, Nolan used Kraken, summoning the sea lord. **

** Fred's Virtual Health Bar is at 6,023. There's no way a Kraken can do that much damage, Morgan thought. For half a second, she had forgotten about the eight blades Nolan had equipped. **

** As the blades vanished, the Kraken's thunderbolt got hotter and hotter, and was now white hot. Even so, there was no possible way even a white hot thunderbolt could do that much damage.**

** Morgan held her breath as the Kraken unleashed the power of its thunderbolt. Even though she had bee routing for Fred, Morgan felt strangely disappointed when the Wizard of Fire contestant was left with 2,042 health. This was it, Morgan thought. **

** And think she did, until, when Fred was going to deliver the killing blow, and his spell Fizzled. Nolan had powered up another spell, and launched it at Fred. It wsa a trio of Stormbats, and shields added to the sting of their electricity. **

** The bats lashed out at Fred, one at a time. The first bat dealt only 400 worth of damage, then the second one a thousand. The third would be the bargaining chip, and they did their job. 1,432. **

** The total damage the Stormbats did was 2832, and Fred lost the match. **

** Even if you had never seen a Duel before, you knew that this was an occasion to celebrate. **

** Nolan Stormgate's name went on the winner line on the page, and Morgan closed her book suddenly. More than half the class would have to attend an extra Duel to completely fill out their book for this year.**

** Diego led them back to the Main Area.**

** "Those two both had different strategies. Nolan powered up his spells by using blades, while shielding himself so he wouldn't take the full amount of damage with each attack. This strategy is formally known as the Defense Ending with Fatality. **

** "Fred didn't use Traps or Blades or even Shields, instead he attacked as soon as his deck and power reserve allowed it. This is formally known as the Reckless and Strong Attacker. **

** "Now, the battle doesn't always end in the same way. Some strategies will defeat others easier, some will loose to others, and some are evenly matched. Sometimes your strategy can overcome its flaws and win." Diego told the assembled students. A girl from School of Fire raised her hand.**

** "What do you mean in flaws?" She asked. **

** Diego smiled. **

** "Every strategy has some flaw, a reason why the other strategy can beat it out. All those reasons are different." Diego explained. **

** The girl nodded, and Morgan bit back the thought that she was stupid as if she couldn't figure that one out on her own. **

** Diego nodded back towards the girl and began to explain what was going to happen next. **

** "We will be going to the library to check out some books for the rest of this year. Your own teacher will be the leader, and for homework over the next few weeks, I want you to fill out the strategy pages, and start filling out the pages to plan your own strategy." Diego ended the class period and Melorn held open the door for the Death and Fire students. **

** There was another student waiting outside the arena, with a dull and armored cloak set. Her wand was a staff, the length made out of molten and shaped and frozen gold, a golden rod. The top had a single large red ruby, the jewel of the School of Fire. **

** The Wizards of Fire lined up behind her in an orderly manor, and they stalked off.**

** Morgan hopped on Lostsouls' back, shifting to get comfortable in the leather saddle. **

** Another student had a black panther they had named Shadow, but other than them, no one else had found their friend yet. **

** The fire students had been kindly and orderly in their act of leaving, but the Death Students did no such thing. The students on foot got a ten minute head start to race to the library, and the Student on Shadow, Kevin Bladewielder, dug his heels into Shadow's side. **

** Morgan realized everyone was gone and gently pushed her heel into Lostsoul's flank. The Warg dashed off as full speed as soon as he had felt the gentle spur. Morgan gripped the thick and sturdy leather reins, and leaned forward so her face was only just high enough to barely see above Lostsoul's head. **

** Lostsoul was only a year old, the stable boy had told her, the panther was much older. Yet Lostsoul was a force to be reckoned with, putting everything into his sprint. The Warg's sides were heaving with the effort, and his tongue was lolling to the side comically. **

** Kevin was frowning as Morgan passed him and Shadow on Lostsoul, but he was a rather kind child, who would die before mistreating something gentle and kind. **

** In only four minutes, Lostsoul was slowing to a stop in front of the library, a smile crossing his wolf-ish mouth, his teeth, which were the size of penknives, showed in what Morgan could only call a smile.**

** Melorn came to a halt a few seconds after Lostsoul had, dismounting his black and red Pegasus, Nightflame. The Death Teacher patted the creature on the snout and the Pegasus gently trotted to the shade, and Lostsoul followed.**

** Morgan walked up the steps to the library slowly, and opened the door. There were thousands of books, being zipped around by magic, Students and Elders and Veterans alike walked around the library, some vanishing down one of the many long halls that lead to different stacks and sections and studies and rooms where you could just sit and read for hours. **

** The head librarian was and old Scotty, who had fled from his home of Marlybone when Malistare's forces began to flood in. His name was Harold Argleston. **

** By that time, most of the other Death Studens had walked in, and Harold smiled at them. The Wizards of Fire rolled their eyes at the Wizards of Death, they had entered panting and sweating, their run from the Arena evident. **

** Melorn led them down one of the halls, the hall for students. **

** The stone floor echoed under the student's feet, each footfall echoing down the passage. Every 20 feet or so, and hanging brazier burned with blue fire, fire that gave off heat but could not send flame to any other substance but chunks of ice. In between the hanging braziers there were book shelves with any number of subjects for students.**

** By the dim light of one brazier, Morgan saw a shelf on dragons, and another on beasts that hold the flame inside was one copy of a book about the hidden burn of ice, and another about each of the creatures of the wizard world and what/how they ate. **

** There were so many large tomes Morgan itched to pluck up, and a few students walking through the hall did. Morgan reached out to pull a book about Krocotopia off the shelf when the memory of all the homework she already had to do flooded her head again.**

** Soon, the hanging braziers began to separate doors with banners above the frames. The banners held a number of subject, colors, symbols, and even a few names, labeled who the room belonged to. **

** Each room looked to be decorated in much the same way as you would imagine them to look for each school. **

** Morgan snuck a peek in the Fire Room and saw tons of braziers and torches keeping the room so bright Morgan had to blink a few times before her eyes could stand it. There were depictions of Dragons, Firecats, and sunbirds, among others. A large statue of a Genie coming out of its lamp took up most of the space where a book shelf could have been. There were at least a dozen Wizards were in this room, all adorned in robes of red and yellow.**

** Just the idea of spending time in that room made Morgan shiver and close her eyes for a couple of minutes. Maybe she really was a Wizard of Death at heart.**

** Stepping into the Death Room, the first thing that hit Morgan was the complete blackness that swallowed the room, only a few braziers made of obsidian holding white hot flames cast light. **

**the was a statue of the wreath, the Master of Death, and the metal part of his Scythe was alive with flames, and he wore a black cloak. The Trim of his hood was white that was decorated with clean cut and shining Onyx, the gemstone of the School of Death. His other skeleton hand was reaching out, ready to take your soul where it deserved to go.**

** It was here that Morgan felt strangely at home. **

** Solemn wizards went about their business, as if nothing were ever going to happen to them. **

** Melorn led the students to desks carved out of Blackwood. **

** There were delicate carvings of Malduit the Devastator, the Lady of The Dark Seraph's that guard the tombs of kinds and ladies and knights in Avalon, warriors of honor in Moo Shou, the great Kings of Krocotopia, the dragonth knights in Dragonspyre, and many more. She was a Leader of the Seraphs that guard the Royal Dead. She ran along the trim of the desks in great detail, and polished and delicate Onyx were placed were her eyes would have been.**

** The ink well was circled by delicately carved Onyx and a carved Bone Dragon was inset beneath a glass piece that must have been centimeters thick across the rest of the desk.**

** The chairs legs were made of wrought black iron, and the seat was cushioned with deep black velvet. **

** The desk was made for wizards of an older age, and when Morgan sat on the chair, her feet dangled well above the ground. **

** "After class, you'll need to come here. You can do homework or read, but you must come here after Dueling Class everyday because we don't have a class room. The storm professor, Halston Balestrom, has offered to take a few of you in his school house after you reach your fifth month." Melorn told the ten assembled students. "I have to go back to my place and do my work, every day wizards reach the age to get a new spell or I send them on a quest. When the clock strikes nine, you are to return to your bedchambers and sleep. I expect you at next to the chasm by six in the morning." **

** None of the students made a sound, but Morgan stifled a groan. **

** She opened her pack and pulled out her quill, Myth Notebook, and Textbook. The rest of the first page were fill in the blanks, and took only a half hour. The short constructed response, however, took much longer. Professor Drake was stern, grumpy, and rather unforgiving. Even though the required response was an opinion, she wanted to have the right opinion. She labored for hours, trying to get everything perfect.**

** She had just finished her Myth Studies homework when the clock struck nine, and she shoved her books and quill in her pack.**

** None of the other schools had even begun to leave yet, they could probably stay out as long as they wanted, and she knew they didn't have to report to their teachers until 9 o'clock tomorrow. **

** Melorn seemed like a nice kid, but she for sure didn't want to anger him by being late, for anything. **

** When she bid Lostsoul to take her back to her dorm room, he ran along at a rapid pace. **

** The sun was still shining with a certain ferocity, and Wizards of all ages continued to mess around in the commons. Mothers pulled younger children back home and closed their curtains, every mother kept her child away from talk of the war and disaster and death until her child's time came to go to school. Then the Mothers would only get to receive a letter from their children every other month, if even. Around here, people grew up fast.**

** Like always, the Ravenwood tunnel was nearly pitch black, a few torches barely lighting the way. Bartelby's braches reached out over the School houses, trees, towers, and the dorms, blotting out the sun except for a few stray rays that found it within them to peak through his dense braches and leaves. **

** The young Wizard's mounts were aloud in the dorms and bedchambers, which was the only place indoors they were aloud to venture. Morgan was used to her home being warm in the cold, brutal winters and cool in the burning, cruel summers, but she also knew the bedchambers would have no such spells cast on them. They were warriors, and as the traveled throughout the Spiral, the worlds each suffered different temperatures, so young wizards were forced to endure it from the age of ten.**

** Morgan opened the door to her dorm and Lostsoul bounded in, narrowly fitting through the space between the beds. **

** She untied her robe, took of her pack, set her hat aside, and pulled her boots off, setting them in the trunk. She took care in folding her robe in the right way, so she wouldn't appear to be a slob and so that it would last longer. **

** She pulled the black, woolen sleeping gown over her head and brushed the days tangles out of her dark black hair that hung just above her elbow. **

** She wasn't tired, but she new she would be tomorrow, so she lay down on her bed and pulled the blanket up of her armpits. She took her wand, waved the flame on the candle out, and set it back on the bedside table. **

** Alone in the dark, Morgan began to sob. She missed her old bed and her Mother and learning how to live instead of learning magic. Morgan fought her tears back with all her might, but that just made them come stronger. She was alone in this world. Lostsoul didn't really count, she just wanted a friend, which was the one thing she wouldn't find, or so she thought. But the universe has something else in mind, such as the meeting of the other six who she will become bound to and save the spiral one day. **

** For now, she just had to get through the month. **


	5. Wizard City: Chapter 4

**The next day, when Morgan dismounted Lostsoul to attend class, there was a skeleton in mail and boiled leather trapped in one circle of a battle circle. He held a rusted steel blade, and a glove on one hand. **

** Melorn was grinning. "Line up students! We're gonna see what this fairy does to kill its enemies." **

** Melorn stepped up to the opposite circle, and flicked the Dark Sprite. When she became bound in the circle she giggles and flew to the skeleton. **

** She flew in a circle around the skeleton warrior, and reached her pale hands out. The skeleton shivered and fell to his knees. A black cloud floated from the Skeleton, and his jaw hung wide. His hand loosened, and the blade fell to the ground. He gurgled as the fairy continued to draw his energy. The bones on his arms and legs began to crumble to dust. The structure of his head began to loose form and peel away. His eyes moved to opposite sides of his skull, then began to melt away and fall out the back of his head. His jaw and head turned to nothing, and he crumbled. **

** The leathers began to age and spoil before the skeleton's bones fully turned into nothing. The Dark Sprite continued to laugh as the mail and blade rusted and vanished. **

** Melorn cackled at the horrified expression on the students faces. **

** The finished battle circle burned bright and freed Melorn from the trap. The card fell back to his deck.**

** "The Dark Sprite strips you of you basic magic energy, which is pretty much what keeps monsters alive. This is a simple spell because the Sprite does all the spell work, and this is one sure fire way to send the monsters back to the pit. The damage this spell caused this walking dead will keep him down there for months, if not years." Melorn explained. **

** "Please don't cast them on your fellow wizards unless in an Arena battle." He began to hand out the cards and the wizards put them in their decks.**

** "Practice summoning her. I won't send you against anything until you barely fizzle. Or unless Ambrose asks you too." Melorn winked at Morgan, and she jumped slightly. Was he hinting at something? No, she wasn't special.**

** She was only the first one able to successfully summon and bind a Dark Sprite.**

** After class, she rubbed Lostsoul's neck as the Warg gently wandered over to the Myth Schoolhouse. He wanted to run, to stretch his muscles.**

** "Go run, boy." Morgan told her friend. "Just get back here before lunch, I need a ride back to the Library."**

** The large beast licked her face and bounded off. He quickly shoved and bounded over Wizards of all ages. Morgan grinned and walked into the Schoolhouse and sat at her seat.**

** Where Professor Drake proceeded to lecture to the class about the powers of Myth and Believing and Blah Blah Blah. **

** He ended with the promise of another lecture about Bloodbats the next day**

** Lostsoul was waiting by the door and bounded to the Library, where Morgan peered down a long, dark hall way and braved the walk to the lunchroom.**

** She chose a dull and bland turkey sandwich and glass of milk with a small bowl of grapes. **

** After lunch, while all the other students had to train and find their mounts, Morgan was aloud to go running, since Lostsoul was the best trained.**

** The look of pure joy on Lostsoul's face was wonderful. He ran down all the unrestricted streets, and barely made it to the Arena in time. Diego then lectured them on different battle techniques for different schools, and watched another battle.**

** After a few hours of Myth homework and Strategy plan, Morgan clamored into bed, her robes laying on the floor, unfolded. **

** Lostsoul placed his chin on the edge of the bed, and fell asleep together for a few hours. **

** Until Suri banged through the door and tossed her hat across the room. She waved her wand and the candles around the room flicked on. **

** Lostsoul stood, his hackles risen, teeth bared, and Suri shrieked. **

** "Down boy." Morgan murmured, leaping to her feet. In the cold winter night, the woolen nightgown swirling, then laying limply on her tree-like body. Her wand was leveled at Suri's chest, a fighting stance. Her Pack and Deck were sitting on her nightstand, but the life-school wand was a piece of whitewood. The Death School wand was the horn of the night-born unicorn and ebony handle. She could prod out an eye. **

** "Don't you have to go to class tomorrow?" Morgan screamed as Suri fumbled for her wand.**

** "Of course, but my teacher's not a jerk. She lets us come in at ten, while yours believes in discipline and giving a spell to a student on her second day!" Suri screamed back, finally leveling her wand at Morgan.**

** "At least my teacher doesn't force on us the important parts of life and well being!" Morgan countered.**

** "At least my school doesn't work for Malistare!" Suri screamed. **

** Morgan froze. She didn't work for Malistare. Certainly none of the other students did. And Melorn was just a kid of 17. Then again, he would be a boy no more in just four more short months. But he was so nice, strict yes, but nice and playful. He would never.**

** "You lair!" Morgan screamed, launching herself at Suri. **

** The Wizard of Life dove to the side. "You're a traitor, as your mother!"**

** "What does my mother have to do with this?" Morgan screamed. Suri just smirked and rushed at Morgan, punching her in the face. **

** Morgan lashed out, kicking and flailing. **

** Morgan didn't doubt she wouldn't have walked away, had it not been for Lostsoul. **

** Upon seeing his rider being pummeled, he sent a warning bark. His teeth were bared, but Suri didn't seem to hear. **

** Then the fists stopped hitting, the lights stopped being block, and Morgan had a second to breath. **

** Lostsoul had pulled Suri back by her arm, which was bloodied and mangled. His eyes had a fierce light shining in them, and he had blood in his mouth. Suri was screaming for help and crying, and Lostsoul stood over Morgan**

**.**

** Other students of all ages came rushing in, and a student of 47 months cast a stunning spell on Lostsoul. The Warg got a far off look in his eye, and turned to stone. Another wizard, one of 69 months and of life school, stepped forward and summoned a unicorn. The gentle horse lowered his head, and gently touched Suri with its horn. Slowly, her wounds began to fade. **

** "What is the meaning of this?" The first wizard, a Storm, demanded as two fire wizards pulled Morgan out from under Lostsoul and held her between them. **

** "I- She- Suri-Attacked me, and Lostsoul-He was-Just-Protecting me." Morgan stuttered. **

** "Life wizards don't attack other wizards, even if they're death." The student replied. "You clearly sent your beast on her in the middle of the night."**

** "What? No!" Morgan replied. "She came in about ten minutes ago, and turned on every light and then I got angry then she called me a traitor, then she attacked me, and Lostsoul got overprotective." **

** "Life students are responsible, she would never do that." On of the fire wizards holding her responded.**

** "Then how do you explain these bruises and cuts and blood on my face?" Morgan countered.**

** "Clearly, your dog did that to you when he got in the way and attacked Suri." Storm snapped. He took out his deck and summoned a single Lighting Bat. "Summon the Headmaster to his office, and tell him we are bringing a renegade." **

** Morgan knew what being deemed a renegade was, you were chased by thousands of wizards, you always had to keep moving, and whenever someone saw you, they had to kill you. Usually, renegades could defend for themselves. Usually, renegades weren't ten years old and on their second day.**

** The Bat shrieked and flew out of the dorm.**

** "Get dressed, you have two minutes." Storm ordered, and everyone left, Suri being held up on the Unicorn. **

** Morgan wanted to cry, just to sit down and bawl her eyes out. Instead, she took off her night gown and pulled her robes over her head, She tied to rope and slung the pack. She placed her pointed hat and laced on her boots. **

** She was led to Ambrose's tower, and the tired, old man who ran the entire school was waiting for her. His office was full of books, and his owl was perched on the lip of a book. **

** "I hear your temper is getting away from you." Ambrose whispered. **

** "That's not what the storm wizard said."**

** "Minions must always tell the truth. You called him storm, you knew this?" **

** "Of course, why not?" Morgan asked, slightly puzzled. **

** "You are charged with magical energy. I have an idea for you. Here." The old man handed Morgan the box.**

** "This will help you with the task I am assigning you." **

** That was sudden, Morgan thought. This old man did not waste his time on language, if he could convey his idea in one word. **

** Within the box, there were seven items within.**

** The First was a hat, The Cowl of Calamity. A Hat with a feather in its cap, Macaroni. The Feather and trim red, and everything else black. **

** The second, a cloak, Gravewynds Tunic. Black ad red striped pants, a waistcoat, and red cap that hung to the thighs, the end torn and tattered. **

** The third, some boots, Footgear of the Relentless, in the fashion that one would expect a pirate of the seas to wear.**

** The fourth, an Athame, The Onyx Studded Athame, had a silver blade and leather hilt.**

** The fifth, a ring, Flawed Onyx Ring, was a golden band, with stars and rhombuses engraved around the center, an onyx sheet as the back ground. **

** The Sixth, and last, a wand, The Resplendent Rod, had a pewter grip and sapphire star-shaped gemstone on the tip.**

** "Professor…" Morgan started.**

** "No buts." Ambrose cut in. "You can not keep going around and beating people down, even if it wasn't you who did the beating. But you are special, Morgan. These are the cloths for the 20****th**** Wizard City Battle Unit. It may be the lowest unit, but as this is now your third day here, I can't just assign you to Unit 1, now can I?"**

** "No sir." Morgan gulped. A Unit? But they were the ones in the field.**

** "These are your new cloths. You are still responsible for school work, but field studies will make up for any classes you miss on duty. Instead of riding, you will meet with your new unit commander. Her name is Cass Hexgrove. She will be wearing the same clothing as you and carrying the same wand." Ambrose instructed. "She will tell you everything else you need to know. Now leave me, and try to get some sleep."**

** Morgan did as she was instructed, carrying the box back to her room for no longer. She didn't bother to sleep, she sat at her desk and began to tell her mother about everything, ending with asking what the other students had meant.**


End file.
